Sunday, February 26, 2006

Antiquities retrieved in Jerusalem souvenir shop

Arutz 7 and an Israel Antiquies Authority news release report (both Hebrew and almost word-for-word duplicates) that during a regular inspection of the Israel Antiquities Authority inspectors in the Old City of Jerusalem, dozens of ancient artifacts were retrieved from a souvenir shop . Among the artifacts are dozens of clay pots and shards from the Iron Age, the Second Temple period and the Byzantine period. These were most likely stolen from burial caves in the Jerusalem area. Also apprehended were miniature glass artifacts that are suspected to have been smuggled from the Persian gulf.

The items retrieved will be used as evidence in court, the operation of the store was halted, and the owner of the store was taken for interrogation on suspicion of breaking the Antiquities Law. The head of the Antiquities Theft Prevention Unit, Amir Ganor, noted that unauthorized trade in antiquities carries up to three years prison term according to the Antiquities Law.

The photo in the Arutz 7 website is unrelated to this report. Walla News (Hebrew) had a one line news update on the recovery following Israel Radio, just saying the IAA confiscated rare artifacts. Joseph Lauer also mentioned that Arutz 7 also put up a short English report.

2 Comments:

I have been doing historical research on my Italian ancestors who are from Northern Italy/Veneto area. Some of my research indicated that Venetian glass manufacturing originated in Israel, and that the Hebrew people were masters at glass manufacturing. I was wondering if you have found this to be true as well.